This Refrigerator Trick Will Change the Way You Grocery Shop

Story of our lives: We go grocery shopping, come home with the goods, and then as we’re putting away the broccoli, realize we already had a head hiding out in the back of the fridge. Dammit. Here, a genius way to streamline for next time and save yourself some cash.

What you need: A pen and a notepad you can clip to the front of your fridge.

What you do: On the top sheet of paper, draw a line down the middle and label one half of the sheet Fridge Contents and the other half Freezer Contents. Next, spend 15 minutes jotting down a list of everything that’s inside. For example, you have two bags of frozen peas, one frozen pizza and a half-used (but not yet expired) container of sour cream. Think of it as a grocery list that shows what you have instead of what you need.

Now what? Every time you use something up, cross it off the list. This way, the next time you’re mapping out meals for the week, you can see at a glance which items you already have in your freezer and fridge, and which ones you need to replace.